Effect of hypnosis on intraocular pressure in normal and glaucomatous subjects.

1 HE RATIONALE of making an investigation of the effect of hypnosis on intraocular pressure rests firstly on a recognition that hypnosis is capable of exerting a profound influence on various somatic fields of function. The ability to produce alterations of motor function such as paralysis and catalepsy, and alterations of sensory functions such as anesthesias, hysterical blindness, and deafness, has been recognized since the earliest days of hypnosis. Of more recent vintage have been the studies of the effect of hypnosis on the gastrointestinal system, and the cardiovascular and renal systems. Most provocative recent work has demonstrated EEG alterations and even abnormal Babinski response produced during hypnotic age regression. The bulk of the work on the effects on physiological functioning possible with hypnosis has been done in Europe, but most of the significant contributions in this field have been excellently summarized by Gorton and Reiter. Reiter comments by way of summary: